Aaron Finch has retired from international cricket in a decision which leaves Australia searching for a new Twenty20 captain.

Finch announced his international T20 retirement on Tuesday, having already quit from the 50-over format in September last year.

“The time is right to let the T20 team move on into a new phase, particularly with a World Cup coming up in 2024,” Finch told reporters.

“It has been a pretty amazing journey.”

The 36-year-old retires having led Australia to a T20 World Cup victory in 2021 but failing to defend the title in last year’s tournament on home soil.

Finch retires as one of Australia’s premier short-form batsmen, playing 103 T20 internationals – 73 of them as captain – making 3120 runs at an average of 34.28.

Finch also led Australia in 55 of his 146 one-day internationals, scoring 5406 runs at 38.89.

He also played five Test matches but his explosive power with the bat was better suited to the short formats, evidenced by his career strike rates of 142.53 in T20s and 87.73 in one-dayers.

Finch holds the world record for the highest individual score in a T20 international, his 172 from just 76 balls against Zimbabwe in 2018 – he also has the third-highest score in history, 156 against England in 2013.

Australia’s next T20 is scheduled for South Africa in September leaving selectors ample time to ponder a new skipper though there is no stand-out successor.

Test and one-day captain Pat Cummins, who was Finch’s deputy at last year’s World Cup, is often rested from the shortest format while Steve Smith was not a first-choice selection in Australia’s cup team.